More sex during the COVID-19 pandemic with home office and lockdown? As if!\u00a0At least that is what a recent Forsa (Institute for Social Research and Statistical Analysis) survey in Germany commissioned by ORION has shown. 73% of the participants stated that the COVID-19 pandemic had no influence on their love life\u00a0at all. A majority of the participants even stated \u2013 if COVID had an influence on their\u00a0sex life with a partner\u00a0\u2013 that they had\u00a0less sex with a partner\u00a0during the pandemic. However, it\u2019s quite different when it comes to masturbation: 77% stated that the pandemic had no influence on their masturbation frequency,\u00a0but 11% said that they masturbated more often during\u00a0the pandemic\u00a0times\u00a0and 8% masturbated\u00a0less\u00a0often. By the way, this doesn\u2019t just apply to the singles: people in a relationship have also masturbated more frequently than they did before the pandemic.<\/p>\n
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More and more people own sex toys \u2013 with a trend towards owning more than one<\/p>\n
The percentage of people who own at least one sex toy has risen from 47% in 2017 to 51% in 2021. A result of the pandemic?\u00a0At least that\u2019s what the sales figures suggest \u2013 especially during the first lockdown.\u00a0What is\u00a0particularly striking: while the percentage of people who own one sex toy has decreased by 5% between 2017 and 2021, the number of people who state that they own more than one has\u00a0increased\u00a0by 9%. Men in particular have acquired a taste for sex toys: the\u00a0share\u00a0of men who own at least one sex toy has increased by 9%\u00a0over the past 4 years.<\/p>\n
The biggest increase happened in the age bracket between 30 and 39. Couples also\u00a0treat themselves to\u00a0a second or third\u00a0sex\u00a0toy: the percentage of people who are in a relationship and own more than one sex toy has increased by 10% since the last Forsa survey commissioned by ORION.<\/p>\n
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Sex toys? Women buy them for their own pleasure, men for their partner\u2019s pleasure<\/p>\n
The survey shows that the main reason for using a sex toy is variety:\u00a055% said that they use sex toys to make sex with a partner more diverse \u2013 in 2017 it were \u201cjust\u201d 51%. There are\u00a0clear differences between the genders: most women use sex toys for masturbation (64%), with variety far behind in second place \u2013 followed by the statement that it is easier to reach an orgasm\u00a0when using one\u00a0(36%). Men stated that the most important aspect for them is variety (61%), followed by the answer that they want to pleasure their partner (53%).<\/p>\n
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Women masturbate more frequently<\/p>\n
Speaking of pleasure: masturbation is also known for\u00a0bringing\u00a0a lot of pleasure.\u00a0By the way: it also increases self-confidence and self-love!\u00a0This year\u2019s survey also shows a change compared to the last Forsa survey commissioned by ORION in 2017: especially women\u00a0masturbate more frequently than\u00a0they did 4 years ago. But men as well tend to\u00a0play with themselves more frequently.\u00a0In 2017, 79% of men stated that they masturbate at least once a month, while in 2021 the number got up to 85%. The difference is even more distinctive for the women: the percentage of women who masturbate at least once a month has increased from 49 to 60%. The largest increase was among those being in a relationship, while the percentage of singles who pleasure themselves has not changed a lot (relationship: +14%, singles: +5%, at least once a month). Welcome side effect:\u00a0people who masturbate more frequently are \u2013 according to the Forsa survey \u2013 also happier with their sex life!<\/p>\n
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The connection between sex and sushi<\/p>\n
It is probably no surprise that people are unhappy if they don\u2019t have enough sex. But who would have thought that having sex every day is also not beneficial for a happy sex life? If sex becomes a routine and, quite literally, an everyday activity, it has a negative effect on people\u2019s satisfaction: according to the recent Forsa survey commissioned by ORION, people in Germany are the happiest if they have sex several times a month but not every single day. Two or three times a week seems to be the perfect rate.\u00a0That\u2019s what it has in common with sushi. Or meeting up with friends: it\u2019s a real\u00a0pleasure\u00a0if it happens\u00a0on a regular basis, but every day would be too much\u00a0since\u00a0pleasure can turn into routine pretty quickly.<\/p>\n